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Writer's pictureThe Job Shop

Fun Activities for Quarantine



Author: Mike Scaletti


The Bay is about to go back into lockdown, which means most people will be back to full quarantine. It can be easy for the stress and isolation to wear on your mental health, especially if you are feeling anxiety regarding other aspects of 2020. On that note, we thought it was high time we took a look at some of the best quarantine friendly activities you could engage in to help get you through the remainder of the pandemic and improve your mental health.


Adopt or Foster a Pet


Recently we shared with you Darcy's experiences fostering cats with Give Me Shelter. Many of us at The Job Shop also volunteer and work with Golden Gate Labrador Retriever Rescue. Both organizations are always looking for volunteers, foster families, and adopters.


Whether you prefer cats, dogs, lizards, snakes, or any other animal, it's very likely that there is an adoption organization in your area that can get you set up to bring home your new best friend. Make sure you do your research first, as adopting a pet is a long term commitment and shouldn't be done on a whim, but if you decide that you are ready, adopting while sheltering in place is ideal, as it gives you plenty of time at home to spend with your new pal learning and getting to know each other.


Also, the mental health benefits of caring for a pet cannot be overstated. If you are dealing with anxiety, depression, stress, loneliness, or any of a myriad of other struggles, pets have been shown time and time again in research to help immeasurably.


Baking


Okay, so we know we're not the first to suggest this. The number of sourdough starters that have proliferated over the course of 2020 must be absolutely staggering. That said, if you've yet to try your hand at making a fresh-baked loaf, there is no better time than now!


In my house, we have had fresh-baked sourdough at least once a week for most of the year, and let me tell you, it's been wonderful. There is NOTHING like slathering butter over a thick slice of sourdough that is still warm from the oven. Add a little jam or preserve and you have yourself a relatively healthy dessert. Plus, it makes your home smell incredible!


You don't need to just stop at bread though. Brownies, cookies, banana bread, coffee cake, pumpkin bread, pies, there are an endless variety of tasty treats that you can pull from your oven to add a little extra joy to your life.


Read a Good Book


I'll be honest, I have absolutely let my reading fall behind this year. With everything else going on, it had felt hard to take the time to sit down with a good book. That said, over the course of the last month or so I have tried to make time, once every few days at least, to sit down and read. It really is incredible what it does for your mental health.


Whether you're looking for pure escapism, to broaden your horizons, or to learn new things, books can provide. For myself, I'm a bit of all three. I read a lot of escapist fantasy novels, but also try to read books that will provide me with the knowledge and context I need to be a more well-rounded person. This is my current reading list. Feel free to share what good books you're reading or wanting to read right now!


The Sellout-Paul Beatty

Tuff-Paul Beatty

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

Calypso - David Sedaris

Lincoln in the Bardo - George Saunders

All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr

The Fifth Risk - Michael Lewis

Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer

The Undoing Project - Michael Lewis

A Burning - Megha Majumdar

Since I Laid My Burden Down -Brontez Purnell

If On A Winter’s Night A Traveler - Italo Calvino

Jericho Brown - The Tradition

The Inheritance Trilogy- NK Jemisin

Dreamblood Duology - NK Jemisin

Black Leopard, Red Wolf - Marlon James

The Water Dancer - Ta-Nehasi Coates

The City of Brass - SA Chakraborty

Rosewater - Tade Thompson

Everfair - Nisi Shaw

Olandria - Sofia Samatar

Earthseed - Octavia Butler

Kindred - Octavia Butler

Are Prisons Obsolete? - Angela Y. Davis

Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California - Ruth Wilson Gilmore

Change Everything: Racial Capitalism and the Case for Abolition - Ruth Wilson Gilmore

Abolition Now!: Ten Years of Strategy and Struggle Against the Prison Industrial Complex - The Cr10 Publications Collective

The Fire Next Time - James Baldwin

On the Other Side of Freedom - DeRay McKesson


No matter what you do to pass the time and ease your anxiety during this period, the most important thing to remember is that, in the words of an old truism, "this too shall pass". This has been a hard year. Focus on yourself, do what you can to maintain your mental health, reach out to whatever support network you might have, and eventually we'll all get through this.

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